Campbells

Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas Countdown: Family Christmas Meal

We had several parties and events leading up to Christmas, as we try to recreate many family get-togethers with our 'family' here. But there was one night that we had nothing to do and would all be home. I decided to fix a fun meal and try all new recipes. Above was bruschetta...mushroom and cheese; pesto, apple, and cheese; and cream cheese with dried cranberries. It was so easy and yummy, I plan to make it again.

I also made new crab dip and a salad with mushrooms, brussels sprouts, and tomatoes.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

That is interesting! Kathleen usually makes baklava for us every year but we didn't do that this year. (It is delicious by the way.) Instead, one of my new recipes was an Italian herb roasted chicken. Fabulous!! (I wish I knew the Italian word for that - ha.) It was a big hit. I also became a fan of an ingredient that I don't normally use . . . EVOO. Do you know what EVOO is? :)

Sara . . . I meant to mention that the Italian Herb Chicken would be a great recipe for you. I am sure you would have all the ingredients except, maybe the chicken???? Ha. Yes, well.

Actually, I was told it works well for other birds. I know you mentioned not having turkeys . . . Not sure what you can get there.

The recipe uses fresh herbs (Know how hard that it is to get here at this time of year?) Each bird is stuffed with herbs (equal parts of fresh rosemary, sage and thyme - approximately 2 sprigs each - I used a little more making it match the amount of sage), a sliced whole lemon and several peeled garlic cloves. It is thoroughly coated on the outside with EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil - extra virgin is important), sea salt and coarse ground pepper. (I definitely would not use regular salt or regular ground pepper for this one.)

You brown the fowl in a very hot oven (450 to 500 degrees) for 15 minutes, breast side up. (This little trick makes a difference.) Then take it out, flip it over, touch up your salt and pepper if needed and bake approximately 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Use a meat thermometer and get an internal (through the breast into the stuffing) temperature of 150 degrees. Take out and let rest for 10 minutes or so until temp comes up to 165.

Now, I ended up with an internal temp of 175 and mine was perfect.

The meat was unbelievably the juicest I had ever seen in a roasted bird of any kind, the flavor was perfect. I used the pan drippings for au jus, drizzling over the meat once it was on the plate, (some dipped the meat) . . . It was perfection all the way around.

If you can't get any chickens, you might use this for another kind of bird.